Meru Partnership – Tanzania, Africa

In 2007 Galilee Lutheran Church in Pewaukee and Ndoombo Parish in Mt. Meru affirmed our formal partnership with each other. This partnership is an extension of the partnership between the Greater Milwaukee Synod and the Meru Diocese, which is an extension of the partnership between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT). Wow!

We have had the opportunity to travel in three separate delegations to visit our brothers & sisters in Mt. Meru, to worship at Ndoombo, and to walk with our friends in faith half-way around the world. In 2012 we will welcome our first delegate visit from our partnership parish, with the arrival of Pastor Samuel Akyoo in September.

We have sponsored two initiatives to improve the lives of those will little resources in Africa. With the Galilee Heifer Project, we purchased milking cows for ten of the poorest families in Ndoombo. With the care and support of the congregation in Meru, the heifers have thrived to produce milk and more heifers. The first two calves borne to recipient families have been gifted to two more families, so out of ten there were thirty families that have received life sustaining nutrition and a means of financial support.

With the Massaii Well Project, we donated funds to build ten wells in the desert. These wells were built at public locations in order to give access to water to all in the area. Though the Massaii women still draw water by hand from the wells, we are on our way to funding holding tanks to give easier access to all – including the elderly and children.

Both projects were funded with private donations and memorial funds gifted by the families of Sherill Price and Robert Sugden.